On Wednesday, October 15, more than 200 people from Dartmouth and beyond gathered to consider the life and work of C. Everett Koop, MD, ScD, D ’37, the 13th Surgeon General of the United States, a pioneer in pediatric surgery, and a storied advocate for the health of the public.
The goal of the conference was to identify ways for individuals working in biomedical research, public health, and clinical medicine to navigate the current policy environment by reflecting on Koop’s work in the Reagan Administration in the 1980s.
Koop’s work to encourage research and treatment for the then-new disease of HIV/AIDS, to destigmatize those affected, to reduce the prevalence of smoking, and to identify the culpability of tobacco companies, secured his legacy as perhaps the most consequential Surgeon General in American history.
“Four decades later, a new political and policy environment is challenging the protection of American public health and support of the country’s biomedical research enterprise,” said Steven L. Bernstein, MD, chief research officer at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, senior associate dean of clinical and translational research at Geisel School of Medicine, and director of the C. Everett Koop Institute—who along with Dartmouth Provost Santiago Schnell, PhD, and Geisel Interim Dean Steven Leach, MD, welcomed symposium attendees.
“Our goal, then, is to explore the dimensions of Dr. Koop’s moral courage, scientific prowess, and political savvy to better understand how those skills can help those working today to deliver outstanding, evidence-based clinical care, practice impactful public health, and conduct lifesaving biomedical research,” Bernstein said.
Referring to the symposium’s title and theme, “Moral Courage in an Uncertain Time: The Legacy of C. Everett Koop,” Leach said, “These are indeed uncertain times in science and in medicine, and even more broadly. Despite this uncertainty, I remain highly optimistic, based on Dr. Koop’s legacy of moral courage and humanity that I see very much alive here today.
“I hope that we can carry this optimism forward following today’s event, along with a bit of Dr. Koop’s tenacity, resoluteness, and moral courage, as a means to help us continue to fight for improved health of all.”
PHOTO GALLERY (Photos by Kata Sasvari):
Symposium attendees, including members of Koop’s family, were treated to a special video message from Anthony Fauci, MD, director emeritus of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who reflected on serving as Koop’s personal physician, and as a colleague and close friend. “He was truly a remarkable man, a champion of public health, guided by a rare inner moral compass that was both compassionate and constant.
“Given the current anti-science trend that we are experiencing in this country, it is more important than ever, particularly among young physicians, biomedical scientists, and healthcare administrators and leaders to cling to and emulate ‘Chick’ Koop’s model of integrity, honesty, and commitment,” said Fauci. “For his legacy, we can all be grateful.”
In one of the highlights of the event, Nigel Cameron, author of the first full-length biography of Koop, entitled, “Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General,” shared several stories, some entertaining and some moving, from his book, which examines Koop’s enduring influence on medicine, ethics, and public policy.
Recalling a story that had been relayed to him about two powerful senators who had been discussing Koop and the path he had taken, “It became clear that Koop was not just pro-life before birth, he was pro-life after birth,” said Cameron. “I think that sums the man up as much as anyone can in a phrase.”
The symposium featured a group of other prominent speakers—including scholars, public health officials, physicians, and advocates—who covered a range of topics from tobacco to HIV/AIDS to reproductive health and participated in panel discussions.
Speakers during the morning session included: Mitchell Zeller, JD, D ’79, retired director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products and clinical instructor in pediatrics at Geisel; Jeffrey Levi, PhD, professor emeritus, Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University; Debra Houry, MD, MPH, chief medical officer emerita and deputy director for program and science emerita at the CDC; and Demetre Daskalakis, MD, MPH, director emeritus at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Afternoon session speakers included: Gregg Gonsalves, PhD, at Yale School of Public Health; Jenna Norton, PhD, Bethesda Declaration co-organizer and signer; Caitlin Bernard, MD, at Indiana University School of Medicine; and Frances Lim-Liberty, MD, at Dartmouth Health.
Each shared insights and talked about their experiences navigating the many challenges that face those working in the public health sphere, and how exercising moral courage, just as Koop did, is as important now as ever.
One such talk, given by Zeller, focused on the tobacco industry’s behavior—including how they controlled health messaging and product modification in an historically unregulated marketplace.
“For the first time, the tobacco industry had a foe that was not going to go away,” recalled Zeller, referencing, among other impactful contributions, Koop’s landmark Surgeon General Report on Nicotine and Addiction in 1988. “What Dr. Koop did on tobacco in his tenure as Surgeon General and beyond was game-changing. And it’s a legacy that we’re still trying to build upon today.”
